Apparatus for advertising.



D. W. TROY. APPARATUS FOR ADVERTISING.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN.31, 1911.

Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

WI TNESSES:

ig i To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL W. TROY, OF MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA.

APPARATUS FOR ADVERTISING.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 26, 191 1.

Original application filed November 12, 1910, Serial No. 582,117.Divided and this applicatiom flied.

January 31, 1911.

Be, it. known that I, DANIEL W. TnoY, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city and countyof Montgomery, State of Alabama,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forAdvertising, of which this is a specification, reference being bad tothe accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to advertising displays wherein the light offluorescence produced by ultra-violet excitation is employed. Theinvention is subord nated to the method described and claimed in myappliand become self-luminous.

cation, Ser. No. 592,117, filed Nov. 12, 1910, method for advertising,from which this application is a division.

The object of this invention is to provide novel and efficient means forproducing atsmall expense highly attractive illuminated or ratherluminous advertising displays, such as signs, through the use offluorescent material.

In the drawing, Figure 1 shows a typical' of the manner in whichornaments or char-- acters may be formed; while Figs. 3 and 4 showmodifications of the means for exciting by substantially ultra-violetlight.

The invention is carried into effect by forming the characters,ornaments and the like, of an advertising display or sign wholly or inpart only of fluorescent material, and then providing means to excitesuch material so as to cause it to fluoresce It will be understood thatthe invention permits of highly attractive effects which will be ofgreat value for the purposes intended.

In the typical illustration of Fig. 1 I show a sign 1, upon which arecharacters 2, 2, 2, (which, obviously, may be of any desired number orarrangement), and, if desired, various merely ornamental objects orrepresentations, formed of fluorescent material or coated therewith. Bymeans of a support 3 a source of substantially ultra- .Violet light 4'(in this case an arc lamp 5 screened by a deeply colored cobalt glassglobe or shade 6) is held in proper position to strongly illuminate (orrather, excite) the fluorescent characters, etc., of the sign withsubstantially invisible light. I find Serial No. 605,820.

that a. light substantially ultra-violet in character answers perfectlyand therefore preferably employ the simple screen of cobalt glass whichis not entirely opague to visible light. The small proportion 0 darkblue or violet light which passes the cobalt glass is in no wise adetriment. More expensive screens could be employed but I findsatisfactory results from cobalt glass. It will be understood, however,that the invention may be carried into effect with any suitable sourceof ultra-viclet or substantially ultra-violet light. of a modificationof the illuminant see Fig. lto be described. I merely provide efficientmeans for producing the fluorescence, and the type of the source ofultra-violet rays is largely a matter of convenience.

I may form the fluorescent characters, designs, or ornamental parts ofthe sign or display apparatus in a variety of ways. I

may employ uranium glass, silicate of zinc,

platino-cyanid of barium (although rather too expensive), calciumtungstate, and a variety of other substances whichmay be'i had in apowdered or crystalline form and which fluoresce brilliantly. These Imay apply in the shape of a mint mixed with or adherent to a binder. ceFig. 2, in which I show a part of a sign 1, having a character 7 soapplied.

Fig. 3 illustrates the preferred manner of arranging the source ofsubstantially ultraviolet excitation so as to obtain the maximumexcitation with a given source of light. Obviously, a reflector of someform will accomplish this end; I therefore provide such reflectingmeans, preferably of substantially or approximately parabolic form,although not necessarily so. See, for example, the reflector 11, partlybroken away to show the are 5 within and closed at the front by a mediumsuch as described capable of allowing substantially no visible lighttopass but fairly transparent to ultra-violet light. The nature of thescreen 12 is capable of modification. As said above cobalt glass answersvery well. A further absorption of visible light may be had with cobaltglass coated with nitrosodimethylanilin and there are doubtless otherscreens which might be employed but for ordinary advertising purposes Ifind the plain cobalt glass, particularly if deeply colored, answersperfectlythe deep blue or violet visible light not only causing nodiminution of the efiect but actuallyincreasing the beauty of thedisplay by .the contrast of back-ground and fluorescent figu're. Asseveral types of vapor lamps,flsuch as the Hewitt mercury vapor lamp,are very eflicient radiators of ultraviolet light I may sometimes employthem to advantage in lieu of the are. For such use I may arrange meansas shown in Fig. 4; a lamp of the type mentioned being shown at 13,-within a suitably shaped reflector 14, closed by the absorber (sheet ofcobalt glass, for example) at 15.

Obviously, highly attractive effects can be secured by making letters,characters, and ornamental members integrally independent of theback-ground of the sign. For example see the letters I N N of Fig. 1,which are separately formed, either of uranium glass or some othermaterial, wood or metal, per

haps, coated with a fluorescent material: Signs of great beauty and highattractive capacity can be thus built up of solidly formed characters ofuranium glass, etc.

No attempt has been made to more than indicate the various modificationswhich can be made in details and sign design and all of which lie ratherWithin the scope of the. artistic sign constructor, for it Wlll beevident that the invention can be carried out in its essential elementsin an enormous variety of displays of this character. It will beunderstood that the term substantially ary, 1911.

ultra-violet light as used herein is used to mean and include not only apure ultraviolet light, it such can be had, butany light sufficientlyultra-violet in character to produce effective fluorescence and notcontaining enough visible rays to mask the fluorescent etteet. A widerange of propertions of the two kinds of light. is obviously possible.

Having claim is -1. In apparatus of the class described, a sign providedwith characters formed of fluorescent material, an arm extended beyondthe face of such sign, a source of light supported by such arm, and ascreen between sueh source of light and such fiuorescent materialsubstantially transparent to ultra-violet light and substantially opaqueto visible light, substantially as set forth.

2. ln apparatus of the class described, an advertising display having adesign thereon delineated in a fluorescent material, and a source ofsubstantially ultra-violet light supported near and arranged to excitesuch material, substantially as set forth.

"Witness my hand this 27th day of Janudescribed my invention, what IDANIEL TROY.

In the presence of- DAISY Jonas, CHARLES H. SCOTT.

